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All parts of the body require nourishment and oxygen, and metabolic wastes need
to be removed from the body. So there is a need to transport various substances like
digested food materials to provide energy and growth of the body, hormones, metabolic
wastes, enzymes,
various gases (oxygen and carbon dioxide) etc. from one part of the body to other.
These functions are carried out by an extracellular fluid, which flows throughout the body. This
flow is known as circulation and this transport of substances is done by a system is called
circulatory system.
Open circulatory system:Inmany advanced invertebrates such as prawns, insects and molluscs,
the blood does not remain confined to blood vessels but it flows freely through the body cavity
and channels called lacunae and sinuses in the tissues. The body cavity is known as
hemocoele and the blood is hemolymph. In insects, the tissues are in direct contact with the
blood. Hemolymph circulates in the whole body due to the contractile activity of heart.
Closed circulatory system:In closed circulatory system the blood flows through proper blood
vessels named arteries, veins and blood capillaries. Arteries within the tissues divide into
arterioles, which then branch further to form capillaries. Capillaries then unite to form venules,
which come out of the tissues and veins. Arteries have thick, elastic and muscular walls which
are made up of three concentric layers viz., tunica externa, tunica media and tunica interna. All
these layers have got smooth or involuntary muscles. Contraction and relaxation of smooth
muscles alter the diameter of arteries and thus regulate the flow of blood through them.
Capillaries are extremely fine, thin blood vessels the walls of which are made of a single
layer of endothelial cells. The muscles and elastic fibers are absent in them. These
capillaries are highly permeable to water and small macromolecules. Various nutrients,
respiratory gases, metabolites and other substances are exchanged between the blood and
tissues through these capillaries.Structurally veins resemble arteries except that the three layers
are very thin and more elastic. In the veins the muscles and elastic connective tissues are
poorly developed. But the collagen fibers of the outer layer are very well developed. In
most of the veins the middle coat is extremely thin with practically no muscles. In many
veins semilunar valves are present in their lumen. These valves allow the flow of the blood only
in one direction i.e., towards the heart.
The heart :
The heart is the central pumping organ of the blood vascular system. It is a hollow
muscular structure and is made up of cardiac muscles. It works throughout life
rhythmically without getting tired. It is enclosed in a double membraneous sac called
pericardium that is filled with pericardial fluid. Mainly there are two chambers in a heart
–auricle or atrium that receives the deoxygenated blood from various parts of the body; and
a ventricle that distributes the oxygenated blood to the body. The number of these chambers
varies in different animals. In fishes, the heart is only two chambered –one auricle and one
ventricle. Both these chambers contain deoxygenated blood.In amphibians, the auricle is
divided into right and left auricles. The blood after oxygenation from lungs is returned
back to left auricle. Right auricle receives deoxygenated blood from various parts of the
body. However, in the ventricle there is mixing up of deoxygenated and oxygenated blood.
In reptiles(except crocodiles), the division of the ventricle also starts but it is not
complete. So the heart is incompletely four-chambered. However, there are two
auricles-left and right auricles. In them the oxygenated and deoxygenated blood are kept
separate. But in the ventricle, this separation is not perfect.Crocodiles, birds and mammalshave
a complete four-chambered heart. In them the ventricle septum is complete so that
there is no mixing up of oxygenated and deoxygenated blood at all. A structure called sinus
venosus is present in the hearts of fishes, amphibians and reptiles. It receives deoxygenated
blood from anterior and posterior caval veins and then that blood is poured into the heart.
There is no sinus venosus in mammals.
HumanHeart :
The mammalian heart including man is a hollow, cone-shaped, muscular structure
that lies in the thoracic cavity above the diaphragm and in between the two lungs. It is about the
size of a fist measuring about 12 cm in length and 9 cm in breadth. It weighs about 300 grams.
It is a four chambered organ-two atria or auricles and two ventricles. Deoxygenated blood
isreceived into right auricle by superior vena cava (from anterior region) and inferior vena
cava (from posterior region) of the body. These vena cavae open directly into right
auricle as there is no sinus venosus. Right auricle also gets blood from coronary veins (from
the heart muscles itself). The right and left auricles are separated by interauricular septum.
Similarly, right and left ventricles are also separated by interventricular septum.
Deoxygenated blood is then passed from the right auricle to the right ventricle through
the atrioventricular aperture guarded by tricuspid valve (having three flaps). The blood is
then pumped into lungs for oxygenation via pulmonary artery. After oxygenation, the
blood is brought back into left auricle via fourpulmonary veins. From left auricle, blood
(now oxygenated) goes to left ventricle through atrio-ventricular aperture and this opening is
regulated by bicuspid (having two flaps) or mitral valve. The left ventricle has also got chordae
tendinae and papillary muscles which prevent the valves (both bicuspid and tricuspid) from
being pushed into auricles at the time of ventricular contraction. Thus the walls of left
ventricle are thicker than the walls of right ventricle. The oxygenated blood from left
ventricle is then distributed to all parts of the body with the help of aorta. The openings of
the aorta and other major arteries are guarded by semilunar valves that prevent the back
flow of blood.
Circulation:
In vertebrates, the heart pumps blood into a closed circulatory system. The left ventricle
ejects blood into the aorta, which gives off arteries to tissues and organs(except lungs), then the
blood is returned from these tissues and organs through two veins, superior and inferior
vanae cavae to the right atrium. This is known as the systemic circulation. The right ventricle
pumps blood into the pulmonary trunk which divides into pulmonary arteries going to the
lungs; then blood is returned to the left atrium from the lungs through the pulmonary veins.
This is called the pulmonary circulation. In some cases, before the blood can finally return
to the heart, a vein returning blood from a system of capillaries divides again into a
second capillary system in the tissues. Such type of vein is called as portal vein; and it
constitutes a portal system along with the capillary system to which it supplies blood. Veins
after collecting deoxygenated blood from the organs normally pour the blood into right auricle.
But sometimes, they pour their blood into some other organ by the portal veins before
the heart. The blood from that organ is then collected and poured into the heart. For
example, a hepatic portal vein returns blood from the intestine and breaks into a portal system
of capillaries in the liver. This helps the absorbed nutrients from the small intestine to
reach first into the liver via the hepatic portal vein. The cells of the liver can take up
these nutrients. Similarly, the blood coming from hypothalamus may be poured into
anterior pituitary by a hypophysial portal vein. This portal system enables the hormones of
hypothalamus to reach the anterior pituitary.
Functions of Lymph:
1.It serves to return interstitial fluid into blood.
2.The plasma proteins macromolecules synthesized by the liver cells, cannot pass into the
blood vessels, but can diffuse into the lymph vessels through their wall and they come to the
blood through lymph.
3.It also carries absorbed fats and lipids from the small intestine to the blood in the
form of chylomicron droplets.